4 People Dead After East Baltimore Fire
Questions linger after a deadly East Baltimore fire swept through a rowhouse and killed four people. Gigi Barnett reports it is the city's first fatal fire of 2010. Ten minutes after 11 p.m. Wednesday night, city firefighters rushed to a house in the 1600-block of East Oliver Street. The house was covered in flames. "When we got here, there was fire coming from every window. Our response time was three minutes," said Chief James Clack, Baltimore City Fire Dept. On the second floor, firefighters found four people, two women and two children. In the morning light, the damage became clear, and the pain for family members is sharp. It's the city's first fatal fire of the year. "My first reaction was disbelief, there's no way. There's no way it can happen again," said Lionell Green, family member. The victims were Green's grandmother and cousins. This isn't the first time he's lost family members in a house fire. In 1994, he and nine others were in their house when it caught fire. There was no electricity, so the family lit some candles. "The house caught on fire due to candles. The rest is pretty much history. I lost nine family members. My mother, seven cousins and my mother's boyfriend," said Green. This time around, firefighters are still investigating and don't know the cause yet. Firefighters say they searched and found no signs of a smoke alarm inside. "There's two ways people can help us help them, and they're free. One is if you don't have a working smoke detector, and the second thing is to have a plan to get out of your house if it's on fire," said Clack. The cause of the fire, which started on the first floor, is under investigation. If you live in Baltimore City and would like a free smoke detector in your home, visit your local fire department or call 410-396-7283. Twenty-five people died in fires in Baltimore in 2009, and there were 19 fire deaths the previous year, Clack said. That's down from about 60 deaths per year in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he said.

5 Firefighters Injured in East Baltimore Explosion
Friday, January 15, 2010 - 5 firefighters were hurt, trying to control a hosue fire in East Baltimore. The fire started around 6 this morning on North East Avenue. That's just northeast of Patterson Park. The City Fire Department says one firefighter has first degree burns and a broke arm. The other 4 firefighters weren't seriously hurt. Firefighters were told people were in the 2-story brick rowhome, but didn't find anyone inside. Investigators think the fire started in the basement.

BCFD, Already Squeezed, Could Face Job Cuts
Friday, January 15, 2010 - The Baltimore Fire Department, already forced to shutter fire stations daily to save money, could eliminate nearly 10 percent of its front-line force by laying off as many as 125 firefighters and closing a dozen companies this summer if dire budget projections come true, according to city and union officials. Bob Sledgeski, president of the firefighters union, called the potential cuts a "doomsday scenario" that he called "devastating." The department is still reeling from a fatal fire to which response was slowed because the nearest fire company was temporarily closed amid budget cuts. Fire Chief James S. Clack has held a series of closed-door meetings with labor leaders to discuss the budget, but he has not made any official announcement to the public. In an interview Thursday, he cautioned that the projections are based on early assessments, made months ahead of hard figures and well before he has to submit a budget plan to city finance officials in March.
Read More